This is kind of funny. Here is a picture of me at 26 weeks and then 36 weeks, in front of baby’s tree. Yep, I am growing. And the tree is definitely facing winter. All the leaves are stripped now.
Side view! Yikes!!!
Oh my goodness, oh my goodness…our due is ONE MONTH from today (deeeeeeep breath Nina, deeeeeeep breath). I am excited to meet her but also want her to stay safe inside. This morning, I was feeling very thankful at how good I have felt during the pregnancy and how much I have been able to keep doing. I have been walking to work most days to keep myself moving and been really busy getting ready for Christmas. I finished shopping earlier this week and got all the gifts in the mail. Last night I made candies and finished Christmas cards. Tonight I will wrap the last of the gifts!
I had one of those “moments” when I was making treats last night. It was just me and baby in the kitchen (Joel was playing basketball with the fellas) and I realized that I had been humming to myself (”Here Comes Santa Claus” - in case it matters…not very spiritual). I just felt really peaceful and thankful for all of the good things in my life.
Then this morning, I was reading my Bible and read Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” I stopped and thanked that Lord for all the goodness in our lives…and I asked that he would keep our baby healthy and deliver her safely.
You should not be deceived to think that I am an all-around peaceful pregnant gal! This was all followed by a mini cry session yesterday morning because I felt pressure from a bunch of decisions we have to make (regarding finances, vehicles, tax details, job duties, etc.). It was good to put things back into perspective. We have so much for which to be thankful!
Anyway, here is a picture of me at 34 weeks.
Here is me yesterday - 35 1/2 weeks.
And here is just a couple, excited to meet their baby. 
Christmas keeps coming early! Check out this AWESOME Christmas present we got from our friends Chris and Heather in Santa Barbara! Chris is an artist and made us this beautiful sign for our back door. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!
I told myself that, because of the pregnancy, I would not go crazy hosting Christmas events this year. However, I can’t seem to resist and I want our home to be used for blessing others. They were fun but I am glad to be done. Here is a recap of some of the fun!
December 3rd - Christmas Party for Kids Ministry Team - The families all made cookies to bless our teaching team. Everyone got to make a yummy box of cookies to take home. Here is a pic of the cookies and also the two site coordinators (and dear friends), Shana and Tiffani.
December 9th - Family Christmas Party and Live Nativity - We started with a family party at my house. Then we all went over to Lincoln Park to see Joel’s Live Nativity.
December 10th - Kids Christmas Pageant (singing in church) - The cuties sang their hearts out in church! Here are the kids from our Ballston location, acting goofy.
December 11th - Youth Christmas Party - We ended our semester and inaugural year with a Christmas party at our house. We made gingerbread houses, played games, and opened gifts.
Santa came early this weekend! He came in the form of Joel’s Uncle Ed and some of his super-service-buds. As background, we have one of those unique-to-DC garage doors making up the back of our yard. I have always used it to drive safely into our driveway and shut the garage door before getting out and going into our house. It quickly became clear that it was poorly made and it would shake and wobble when I used it. I was scared that it would eventually fall down on me in the car. Alas, that never happened because a number of months ago, it just stopped working. One of the support beams had bowed enough that the door could no longer open.
Adding to our frustration, there seemed to be NO ONE who could fix it. We would ask contractors and fix-it men and they would just shake their heads at us. I started to feel a bit stressed about it, picturing myself struggling with street parking and hiking a newborn back to our house.
Well, our heroes gave us Christmas early this weekend when they came ALL THE WAY from the Chicago area to fix us up. The project turned out to be quite a challenge! They had to rebuild the frame and then even purchase a new motor and chain unit. (Listen to me, as though I have a clue what I am talking about!)
And IT WORKS! Joel and I were so giddy that we opened and closed it a bunch of times. Joel was even excited to take out the trash because he could go right out back and not all the way around the end of the block.
Some call it nesting, but I identify it more as a feeling of PANIC. All the things remaining to be done feels really overwhelming sometimes. I am sure that this is compounded with end of the year tasks and Christmas preparation…oh yeah, and all the changes with Congress.
But, I can now make a HUGE checkmark on the worry list. I have a back yard and driveway again! Lord, please bless Uncle Ed, Pete, and Keith!
Here is Joel just enjoying the opener. Open….close…open…close…
Our baby now weighs about five pounds and is almost 18 inches long from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. Her central nervous system is still maturing, but her lungs are well developed now. I feel a bit more comfortable that we are in more of a “safe” stage because 99 percent of babies this age can survive outside the womb and most have no major long-term problems related to prematurity.
This is good in case baby girl decides to come early! People keep making comments about how I must be so ready for her to be out. It is the exact opposite! I feel like things are moving so quickly and I want her to stay safe inside! This way, she is with me all the time, really close and comfy, and I know she is safe and happy.
My friends threw baby girl and me a GORGEOUS baby shower this last weekend. It was so much fun to be with all of my girlfriends, eat yummy food, and celebrate this life change.
The presents were so pretty! And so much fun!
My sister made these ornaments as a take-home favor. She painted them with the paint from baby’s room!
The yummy spread!
Oh yes, they are sniffing diapers! We also played celebrity baby - my favorite! I have a few friends that read People magazine as much as I do!
My friends are hard at work keeping track of us!
More friends having babies!
And the lovely gals that hosted this shin-dig.
